Plan a Day Trip to Glenorchy's Cutest Attraction

Planning a Glenorchy day trip? A Day Trip to Glenorchy is our full guide: the drive, the walks and the road to Paradise.

Look for the big red shed on the left. Just past Glenorchy, on the road towards Paradise, there is a family farm where you can wander the whole property and pat and feed more than a hundred animals, from guinea pigs and lambs to llamas and a Clydesdale. It is the one stop at the head of the lake that children remember longer than the view.

Here is what it is, when it is open and how to build a day around it. It is 50 kilometres from Queenstown along one of the best drives in the country, so a car from Evolve Rentals is the easy way to get there and the easy way to stop wherever the lake tells you to.

What is Glenorchy Animal Experience?

A working family farm that opens its gates to visitors. You are free to go all over the property, and the animals are there to be patted, fed and watched. The range runs from the very small to the very large, which is most of the fun: guinea pigs at one end, a Clydesdale at the other, and sheep, goats, llamas and plenty else in between.

It suits every age, but it is at its best with children who have spent a morning in the car being told to look at mountains. This is the part of the day where they get to do something with their hands, and most of the adults end up just as involved.

When is Glenorchy Animal Experience open?

Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm, with last entry at 3pm, and it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The farm closes over winter and reopens in spring, so check the farm's own site for the reopening date before you plan around it. A Monday or Tuesday drive out to Glenorchy is still a very good day, just not this particular stop.

Spring is the time to go if you can. The paddocks are full of lambs, the days are longer, and the drive along the lake is at its best in the clear light after winter.

How do you get to Glenorchy Animal Experience?

It is 50 kilometres from Queenstown, 2.5 kilometres past Glenorchy on the Glenorchy Paradise Road. The road is sealed the whole way from Queenstown to the farm, and the seal carries on for several kilometres past it before the road to Paradise turns to gravel.

The drive to Glenorchy takes about 45 minutes and nobody ever does it in 45 minutes, because the lay bys keep asking you to stop. Our guide to the viewpoints around Queenstown covers Bob's Cove on the way out, and if you left without coffee, our favourite takeaway stops include the Boat Shed at Frankton, which is already on your way.

What else is there to do in Glenorchy?

Make a day of it. The Glenorchy Walkway is an easy boardwalk over the wetland, graded at one to two hours by DOC, and it starts from Mull Street at the northern end of the village. It is one of the better birdwatching spots in the district, and Mount Earnslaw sits at the end of every view.

For food, Mrs Woolly's General Store does coffee and baking, with a walled garden out the back that most people miss. And one practical note from DOC: mobile coverage is only in the township itself, so download your map before you leave Queenstown.

If the animals go down well, Wanaka Lavender Farm is another farm day worth planning, with fields, gardens and farm animals of its own over the Crown Range.

Getting the car sorted

There is no bus to Glenorchy, so this is a drive or a tour, and a drive means you stop where you like. We bring the car to you, which nobody else in Queenstown does and which is the whole reason Evolve exists. Somebody from our team meets you where you are staying and walks you round the car, and you are on the lake road before anybody has asked how much longer.

Or collect from us at 153b Glenda Drive in Frankton. Either way, book your car with Evolve Rentals, aim for the big red shed, and take the long way home along the lake.

FAQs

Where is Glenorchy Animal Experience?
2.5 kilometres past Glenorchy on the Glenorchy Paradise Road, about 50 kilometres from Queenstown. Look for the big red shed on the left.

When is Glenorchy Animal Experience open?
Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm, with last entry at 3pm. It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and over winter, so check the farm's site for the spring reopening date.

What animals are at Glenorchy Animal Experience?
More than a hundred, from guinea pigs and lambs to llamas and a Clydesdale, and visitors can pat and feed them all over the property.

Is the road to Glenorchy Animal Experience sealed?
Yes. The road is sealed from Queenstown to Glenorchy and for several kilometres beyond, past the farm, before the road to Paradise turns to gravel.

How long does it take to drive from Queenstown to Glenorchy?
About 45 minutes for 45 kilometres along the lake, but allow longer, because there are plenty of places worth stopping on the way.